Fill-seal wood finishing method and product



March 5, 1963 J. M. BERRY 3,080,257

' FILL-SEAL wooD FINISHING METHOD AND PRODUCT Filed May 20, 1959 sANDED-wooD FG l APPLY CLEAR FIXING AGENT (LIGHT coAT) APPLY PIG MENTEDFILLER-SEALER APPLY TOP COATS JOHN M. BERRY ATTORNEYS W73@ fm' UnitedStates Patent Office asstra? Patented Mar. 5, lg

3,080,257 Fill-SEAL WDD FlNiSHiNG METHQD AND FRDUCT John M. Berry,Martinsville, Va., assigner to Mitliand Chemical Corporation, Dayton,hio, a corporation of Delaware File-d May Ztl, i959, Ser. No. 814,535 2Claims. (Cl. lli-JZ) This invention relates to wood finishing systemswherein the wood is provided with a surface adapted for the decorationand preservation of the wood; more particularly the invention relates towood finishing systems provided to greatly accentuate differences incolor between the pore and iiake of the Wood.

Contrasting colorations, such as black a-nd white, sometimes termed asea foam finish, are desired on decorative furniture pieces and suchfinishes must also exhibit protective `and preservation qualities.Normally aqueous materials are avoided for such purposes, as waterstains, for example, tend to raise the grain of the wood, resulting inmuch labor and expense in overcoming the raised grain effect.Consequently aqueous treating materials have been limited in theirapplication even though the Water stains, such as aniline dyes, havelong been considered more desirable than the oil and spirit stains.

In the co-pending application of John M. Berry, Serial No. 735,239,filed May 14, 1958, there are described aqueous system wood finishingmethods which materially reduce the costs involved while permitting theattainment of the advantages of an aqueous system.

It has now been found that such aqueous methods may be employed inconnection with the preparation of wood surfaces having greatly improvedcontrast between the pore areas and the flake areas of the wood with thefiake area of one background coloration and the pore area of anothercoloration. The system is thus effective to emphasize naturallyoccurring dierences between the pore and ake as well as to producecontrasting colorations in the pore and flake areas. Further, whileflake areas are accentuated the surface is itself smooth and the highlabor costs attendant other aqueous systems are eliminated.

Accordingly, a primary object of this invention is to provide animproved economical wood finishing process whereby the naturallyoccurring differences in the pore and flake areas of the wood and ofcontrasting colorations are greatly accentuated.

In the practice of the method of the co-pendinL7 application referred tohereinbefore the wood treatment involves essentially the application toa smooth Wood surface of a fixing agent followed by a filler-sealer coatwhich provides on the wood a hard translucent film. Over this filmprotective lacquer coats or varnish, for example, may be applied.

In the practice of the present invention two coloring materials areutilized; the background coloration is applied in a lightcoat-insufficient to ll the pores of the wood but effective to provide abackground on the flake. Suitably, prior to the application of thisfirst color material, a clear translucent water soluble, hard fixingagent film is provided on the wood surface to limit any tendency of thebackground color to pore penetration. The soluble fixing agent film isreactive with the agen containing the background color material and iscurable to xa hard thin film. Over this latter lm a glaze is applied;this glaze is preferably of the same nature as the fixing agent film butcontains the second coloring agent. After application of the glaze afiller-sealer which effects final lling and sealing is applied andcured; this filler-sealer is aqueous, dissolves the film containing theglaze and reacts therewith to form a hard film over which the usualprotective top coats of lacquer, resin or the like may be applied.

The glazing operation involves rag wiping of the second color across thebackground color and the pores become filled with the second colormaterial; in the case of a sea foam black and white finish the blackcolor material is retained substantially solely by the pores While thewhite pigment covers the flake of the wood.

The product is a hard finish characterized by strong adherence of thecured undercoat to the overcoats and a substantial elimination of atendency of the finish to check.

The invention will be more fully understood by reference to the attacheddrawing wherein:

FlGURE l is a flow sheet illustrating the process; and

FIGURE 2 is a plan view illustrating the product.

As illustrated in the drawing, to produce a black and white finish thesanded wood suitably has first applied thereto a spray of a xing agentformed as follows:

Fixing Agent "A Water lbs 29.2

(8.3 gals.) Powdered alum lbs-- 1.5 Powdered boric acid lbs 1.5 Sugarlbszl0 Mono-butyl ether of diethylene glycol (Butyl Car- 4bitol) gal 6.5

The above are mixed together with simple agitation and the following isadded:

H2SO4 5 liq. ounces (9.5 oz. av.). H2O 5 liq. ounces (5 oz. av.).Mono-butyl ether of di-ethylene glycol (Butyl Carbitol)- 5 liq. ounces(5 oz. av.). Boric acid 1.25 oz. av. Alum 1.25 oz. av.

The formulation given yields 5 gallons of fixing agent; the componentsdissolve readily in the water.

This fixing agent is dried on the wood; over the dried fixing agent avery light spray of a white pigmented fillsealer is applied, formed asfollows:

Fill-Sealer A (4.1 lbs.) and add to the resin solution the sugarsolution.

Five gallons of the last named solution were then modified with:

Mono-butyl ether of ethylene glycol (Butyl Cellosolve) Amyl acetateMono-butyl ether of diethylene glycol (Butyl Carbitol)- lliq. ounce (1oz. av.).

3 pints (4.3 oz. av.). Zliq. ounces (1.7 oz. av.).

Pigmentad F z 'll Sealer Fill-sealer A gals 3/2 Titanium dioxide lbs 2Water gals 1/2 The above are ground together in a ball mill; then a verylight spray of the pigmented fill-sealer is applied over the fixingagent. The fill sealer-fixing agent are cured at a temperature of 110VF. to 140 F.

The film applied is a very light one'and does not close the pore areas.i

' VFor the purpose of applying `the .second color-to one gallon of thefixing agent-A'there is added 4 ounces of raw umb er to produce theglaze.

This glaze is sprayed in a heavy .wet coat `over the dried *white toner;the glaze is permitted to air dry for a 3 to 5 minute period and thenthe glaze is wiped across the grain of the wood to Vobtain a Ysmoothveven closed glaze surface. A simple rag wiping accomplishes thepurpose. By this wiping action a white background having black in thepore areas only of the wood is achieved.

After t-he glazing the wood is air dried for a short period and then isoven dried at 110 F. for 30 to 60 minutes. This surface is smooth andsuitably is lightly sanded in preparation for the final ll-seal coat.

The fill-sealer is sprayed over the dried glaze and then the wood is airdried for to 30 minutes, and finally is oven ydried for 30 to 60 minutesat 110 F.

Air drying before force drying tends to avoid blistering which sometimesoccurs and is accordingly a precautionary measure.

No sanding of the film is required before applying the finish coats.These coats may be three coats of nitrocellulose lacquer; oralternatively urea-alkyd varnishes or natural resin varnishes may beapplied.

The application of the clear fixing agent and the light coat of the.pigmented filler-sealer priorY to `the application of the glazeprovides a receptive surface for the glaze. The glaze combines thefunction of `partially filling the pores of the wood without causinggrain raising to any substantial extent; thus eliminatingV thenecessity' for any substantial sending. The -film provided by-the -glazeis homogeneous, water soluble, ,continuous and hard.

The earth colors of the glaze distribute evenly but are retainedsubstantially only by the pore areas after the wiping.

The filler sealer composition wets the dry fixing agent, which resultsin the'hard transparent film through which the emphasized differentialpore and ake areas are visible.

The principal function of theV sucrose in the system is to fill thepores of the wood; in addition, however, the sucrose contributes to theviscosity necessary for proper spraying, and also aids in the formationof a continuous film on the surface of the wood.

The boric acid, sulfuric acid and aluminum sulfate serve as catalystsfor the polymerization of the urea formaldehyde; in addition the boricacid and alum 4inhibit against the raising of the grain kof the wood.

The Butyl Carbitol and vButyl Cellosolve provide for control of the flowand the wetting properties of the ved hicle, and also serve to someextent in the prevention of grain raising.

The urea formaldehyde itself serves the dual function of filling andsealing or insolubilizing. A particularly suitable urea formaldehyde isthat marketed as a dry partially polymerizable powder having a particlesize of about 30 mesh. Other characteristics of one such suitable resininclude a Storrner viscosity of 20-70 r.p.m. at 21 C. (50 grams of waterplus grams of the resin); a gel time at 70 F. of 90-140 minutes k(100grams of resin and 50 grams 4% ammonium chloride solution).

Urea formaldehyde is reacted to form a hard transparent insolublesurface which is receptive to the application of the usual lacquer topcoats.

In effect the product comprises a coating on the wood of superposedhardened films which are durable, ad-

herent, transparent, continuous and resinous; a first film includes onecoloring material and the second film the second coloring material. Thissecond coloring material is confined to the pore area since the poresare incompletely filled by the formed film.

It will be understood that this invention is susceptible to modificationin order -to adapt it to different usages and conditions andaccordingly, it is desired to comprehend such modifications within thisinvention as may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. ln a wood finishing process wherein color contrast is provided on asurface of wood between the pore and iiake grain areas of the wood, thesteps of sanding `the wood surface, applying on the surface of thesanded wood an aqueous acidic fixing agent solution containing sucrose,boric acid and an alum and pigment, thereafter drying the same on thewood at a temperature of F. to F. to provide a continuous water-solublefilm, applying over the `fixing agent iilrn an aqueous dispersion ofurea-formaldehyde resin which hardens in contact with the aqueous acidicfixing agent and which resin dispersion contains a pigment of thedesired coloration of the flake areas of the wood, applying over theresultant treated wood surface an acidic wiping glaze containingcoloring matter, wiping the glaze into the pore areas of the wood and tosubstantially remove the glaze from said ake grain areas, drying theglazed Wood at a temperature of approximately 110 F. for 30 to v60minutes and finally applying to the wood surface an aqueous resindispersion containing urea-formaldehyde lresin which is hardenable incontact with the glaze Vto provide a substantially water-insoluble filmand drying the latter dispersion at approximately 110 F. in contact withthe glaze, said resin dispersion of urea formaldehyde resin forming afilling and sealing coating and which resin is hardened by contact withsaid fixing agent.

2. In a wood finishing process wherein color contrast is provided on avsurface of wood between the pore and flake grain areas of the wood, thesteps of sanding said wood surface, applying on the surface of the woodthus sand-ed an aqueous acidic fixing agent solution containing sucrose,boric acid, sulfuric acid and an alum, drying `said solution at atemperature of 110 F. for 30 to 60 minutes on the wood to a continuouswater-soluble film, applying to the fixing agent an aqueous dispersionof urea-formaldehyde resin which is hardenable in contact with theaqueous acidic fixing agent and which dispersion contains titaniumdioxide, said fixing agent and dispelsion being insufficient tocompletely fill the pores of the wood, hardening the fixing agent anddispersion to .seal the pigment on the wood surface, applying to thewood surface over the sealed pigment an acidic wiping glaze containingburnt umher, wiping the glaze to provide the same in the pore areas ofthe wood and to Isubstantially remove the glaze from the iiake grainarea,

drying the glazed wood at a temperature of approximately 110 li. for 30to 60 minutes and applying to the wood surface an aqueos resindispersion of urea-formaldehyde resin which is hardenable in Contactwith the glaze to provide a lling and sealing substantially Waterinsoluble film; and heat hardening said latter dispersion in contactwith the glaze by subjecting the resultant glazed wood to a temperatureof about 110 F. for 30 to 60 minutes.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 6 LehmanOct. 30, 1951 McCullough et al Mar. 3, 1953 Robison Aug. 11, 1953 Golicket a1. Dec. 24, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Ian. 29, 1931 GreatBritain Mar. 4, 1953 OTHER REFERENCES 10 Wood Finishing, Vanderwalker,Drake & Company,

1944, pp. 340-341 relied on.

1. IN A WOOD FINISHING PROCESS WHEREIN COLOR CONTRAST IS PROVIDED ONSURFACE OF WOOD BETWEEN THE PORE AND FLAKE GRAIN AREAS OF THE WOOD, THESTEPS OF SANDING THE WOOD SURFACE, APPLYING ON THE SURFACE OF THE SANDEDWOOD AN AQUEOUS ACIDIC FIXING AGENT SOLUTION CONTAINING SUCROSE, BORICACID AND AN ALUM AND PIGMENT, THEREAFTER DRYING THE SAME ON THE WOOD ATA TEMPERATURE OF 100* F TO 140* F. TO PROVIDE A CONTINUOUS WATER-SOLUBLEFILM, APPLYING OVER THE FIXING AGENT FILM AN AQUEOUS DISPERSION OFUREA-FORMALDEHYDE RESIN WHICH HARDEN IN CONTACT WITH THE AQUEOUS ACIDICFIXING AGENT AND WHICH RESIN DISPERSION CONTAINS A PIGMENT OF THEDESIRED COLORATION OF THE FLAKE AREAS OF THE WOOD, APPLYING OVER THERESULTANT TREATED WOOD SURFACE AN ACIDIC WIPING GLAZE CONTAININGCOLORING MATTER, WIPING THE GLAZE INTO THE PORE AREAS OF THE WOOD AND TOSUBSTANTIALLY REMOVE THE GLAZE FROM SAID FLAKE GRAIN AREAS DRYING THEGLAZED WOOD AT A TEMPERATURE OF APPROXIMATELY 110* F. FOR 30 TO 60MINUTES AND FINALLY APPLYING TO THE WOOD SURFACE AN AQUEOUS RESINDISPERSION CONTAINING UREA-FORMALDEHYDE RESIN WHICH IS HARDENABLE INCONTACT WITH THE GLAZE TO PROVIDE A SUBSTANTIALLY WATER-INSOLUBLE FILMAND DRYING THE LATTER DISPERSION AT APPROXIMATELY 110* F. IN CONTACTWITH THE GLAZE, SAID RESIN DISPERSION OF UREA FORMALDEHYDE RESIN FORMINGA FILLING AND SEALING COATING AND WHICH RESIN IS HARDENED BY CONTACTWITH SAID FIXING AGENT.